Corresponding author: Dilian Georgiev (
Academic editor: E. Neubert
A new species of genus
Georgiev D, Dedov I (2014) Contribution to the knowledge of the Bulgarian species of the genus
The European species belonging to the genus
There are eleven species of
All species of
In this paper we describe a new species,
The specimens of the new species (and other representatives of the local malacofauna) were collected by hand and with a double sieve system (1×1 and 2×2 mm).
Abbreviations used: –number of whorls –height of shell –diameter of shell –diameter of umbilicus –diameter of last whorl –diameter of penultimate whorl –“Senckenberg Forschungsinstitut und Naturmuseum” –“National Museum of Natural History, Sofia”
Nw 6.25, H 2.1 mm, D 4.65 mm, Du 0.9 mm, Dlw 0.75 mm, Dpw 0.55 mm (SMF 341898).
2 specimens (SMF 341899/2).
The remaining paratypes are stored in the collections of the authors.
Surroundings of the Benkovskata Cave, near the village of Cherni Vit, Teteven town district, Stara Planina Mts, Bulgaria, 15–16.11.2013, leg. D. Georgiev, 10 adult, 5 juvenile specimens,
The type locality of
The species is named after our colleague and good friend Ulrich Schneppat (Natural History Museum, Chur, Switzerland) with gratitude for his great contribution to the knowledge of Bulgarian gastropods and for providing many literature sources, as well as for long and useful discussions with us on snails and slugs by email or around camp fires during our expeditions throughout Bulgaria.
Of all the
The shell is translucent, yellowish-white, with 6.25–7 whorls which are densely and coarsely radially striated. The spire is low, broadly conical and elevated. The last whorl is angled at its periphery. The aperture is straight, moderately wide. In funnel perspective, the upper whorls are visible inside. The umbilicus is wide with a diameter of 0.75–1.05 mm, which represents approx. 1/5 of the shell’s diameter. The diameter of the last whorl width is less than 2 × the diameter of the penultimate whorl (Dlw 0.65–0.8 mm; Dpw 0.5–0.6 mm). The height of the shell is 2–2.35 mm. According to
The type locality represents the surrounding area of a limestone water cave, with a small spring flowing below the cave near its entrance, providing constant air and soil moisture. The locality, where the new species was found, is a steep carbonate rock on the right side of the cave, densely covered with broad leaf detritus, mainly from
The terrestrial malacofauna diversity at the type locality was very rich. There were more than 20 species of land gastropods registered, within only on a few square meters of area:
After the description of this new species, the genus
The examination of material from genus
After studying these specimens, we found some differences existing between
Irikov’s opinion (2001) “between typical
The most important question for a correct determination of the species in genus
The occurrence of
Summarising the current knowledge on the genus
1 | umbilicus entirely closed | 2 |
– | umbilicus more or less open | 4 |
2 | diameter of the last whorl only slightly wider than penultimate whorl |
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– | diameter of the last whorl almost 3 times wider than penultimate whorl |
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4 | umbilicus with minute opening, through the umbilicus internal whorls cannot be seen, whorls is 4.5–5, diameter of the shell 3.0–4.3 mm |
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– | umbilicus much wider, the penultimate whorls through the umbilicus could be seen | 5 |
5 | diameter of the last whorl almost 2 times wider than penultimate whorl | 6 |
– | diameter of the last whorl less wide (1.5 time than penultimate whorl or even less) | 7 |
6 | suture deep, mouth is wider, size smaller (in 3.5–4 whorls, diameter of shell 1.4–2.1 mm, the height of shell 0.7–0.8 mm) |
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– | suture shallow, the mouth is narrowed, size bigger (in 4.5–5.5 whorls, diameter of shell 2.9–3.2 mm, the height of shell 1.3–1.5 mm) |
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7 | umbilicus perspective, very wide (about 1/3 from shell diameter), the whorls is 3–3.5 | V. verae |
– | umbilicus perspective, moderately wide, 1/5 or even less from shell diameter, the whorls are 4.5 or more | 8 |
8 | umbilicus perspective, about 1/4–1/6 from shell diameter | 9 |
– | umbilicus much narrow (about 1/12–1/14 of the shell diameter), the shell smooth, finely striated near the suture only, the bottom side of the shell rounded |
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9 | shell intensively radially striated, the number of whorls is 6.5–7, diameter of the shell big (4.65–5.3 mm), shell with angled periphery | |
– | shell smooth or finally striated, the number of whorls is smal 4.5–5.75, diameter of the less than 4.3 mm | 10 |
10 | shell smooth, the spire much conical, the umbilicus much wide (1/4–1/5 from shell diameter) |
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– | shell finally striated, the spire much depressed, the umbilicus much close (1/5–1/6 from shell diameter) | 11 |
11 | shell bigger (in 5 whorls diameter of the shell is 3.8–4.3 mm), umbilicus perspective-cylindrical | |
– | shell smaller (in 5 whorls diameter of the shell is 2.9–3 mm), umbilicus perspective-conical |
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The authors are grateful to Barna Páll-Gergely (Shinshu University, Japan) and Francisco Welter-Schultes (University of Göttingen, Germany) for the very useful discussions considering the